In the 19th century, Alvan Graham Clark was one of the premier lens makers for telescopes. His craftsmanship was sought after and many observatories in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were built to house his refractor telescopes. In fact, smaller Alvan Clark refractors are also sought after by amateur astronomers when they are on the used market.
You have an opportunity to look through a Clark Telescope at the Dearborn Observatory, located at Northwestern (Evanston, IL). The observatory has public viewing on Fridays, weather permitting. And, if you are interested in learning about the history of Alvan Clark refractors, come visit our March fundamentals talk, presented by NAA member Ed Armstrong.
September ’25 – Rick’s Picks
Transient Events That Can Give Us a Good Enough Reason To Get Outside and Do a Little Observing All month: the early evening sky is still bereft of planets this month, other than unimpressive mag +1.6 Mars, now just 4” across, and it too will disappear into the sunset...
August ’25 – Rick’s Picks
Transient Events That Can Give Us a Good Enough Reason to Get Outside and Do a Little Observing All month: Mars continues to have the evening sky to itself this month, but it doesn’t make much use of it, setting just after 10 pm (less than 2 hours after the Sun) as...
Neutrino Astronomy In Greenland and Antartica
Not all telescopes use light to observe the universe. Some, like ice cubes, the RadioNeutrino Observatory in Greenland (RNO-G) and the Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO) look for neutrinos from distant, extragalactic sources by detecting their...
Astronomy Fundamentals: What Possessed You to Build Your Own Telescope
Amateur astronomy used to be associated with making your own telescope. Stellafane in Vermont still pays homage to the art of telescope making and is approaching its 90th year. However, with the availability of mass produced mirrors, lenses, and complete telescopes,...